The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1887-06-25


lans first disappointment He began the
march up the Peninsula April 4, 1867. His
army was divided into two columns, night
and left The right marched up along DIRK
river toward Yorktown, under Gen. He int
lehman. The left, commanded by Gen. lSe 'es,
followed the James river up towardWi lila us
burg. By following the line of march u on
the map, the course Of the two columns VIII
he clear. Reyes was to proceed as rapdE as
might be on tho west and occupy Hah''fy
House point ON the narrow dividing ri Il y
which formed the watershed between tie
York and James rivers. He was to halt or E
and by all means prevent either the esccp a
the Confederate garrison at Yorktown or tho
throwing in Of RI endorsements to them.
Reyes was expected to reach Haltu ay
House April 5. But he did not. The two
months rain Of the spring Of 1862 began as
the Federal army began to move The io,ds
became at some points impossible for " Ill
lery.
Another thing: In all the years that he
United States had been a country there LIE, ar
had been IN accurate map made Of this pt TT
Of Virginia OF the region Immediately in
front OF Heintzelman's column there was 10
better map than the one made when the Bra T.
ish bese9ed Yorktown in 1881. A goveri-
ment survey Of the Peninsula had bee u
made in 1918, but later than that there we 5
nothing to so by.
The land before McClellan's army YVES N,
unknown region Of swamp, with rain pour
ing night ard day, and lines Of heavy Con-
federate Notifications between it and Rich
mond. OF, all this the two advancing col
umns knew nothing, except just that it
| rained. That was plain enough
! April Keyes marched five miles out, ell
| countered the Confederate Notifications ut
| Lees Mills and stopped Seven miles below
| Yorktown there was line of Notifications
| quite across the solid ground OF the Peninsula,
| which, between the head of Warwick river
| and York river, narrowed to three miles
| Besides that the Confederate had damned
| the deep creeks flowing into the James and
| Warwick rivers, which had backed the water
into impenetrnble boys.
| The Confederate army of the Peninsula was
under the immediate command of Gen. j.
Bankhead Magruder. He had prepared or
| begun three lines of fertilization across the
| Peninsula The first one was seven miles
| below Yorktown. While Mcclellan had
| been euuipping his army and getting "good
ready" at Washington, the Confederates had
been terrifying between him and Richmond.
II was the Warwick river and the fortified
tions along its course which stopped McClcl
Ian's army, both IIeintzelman on the right
and keyes on the left. This river on the
| mans Mcclellan had access to flowed parallel
with those rivers, nearly southeast. In
| reality it flowed across the Peninsula between
the rivers
IL made formidable barrier, fortified as II
was. Keyes' column stopped at Lees Mills
| on the Warwick, AMI encsmped there
Heintzelman's column approached nearer
Yorktown, where it was also stopped 10y tho
Warwick. This was Magruder's second ant
most important line of Notifications. Th'
first had been abandoned March !. The oh
line Of Notifications thrown up by the British
in 1881 had beenrevived by Masruder. Along
the line of the Warwick, stretched across TIN
Peninsula, were II 900 Confederates, and thl
was the force opposed to Mcclellan with hi
army of s. 900 men. %
! President Lincoln kept dispatching TO hin
TO strike blow" Magruder expected al
attack. His troops lay upon their arms ii
, the trencheskeveral days awaiting the attack
Opposite where McClellsns army lay, nea